"I'll call you then, you can't deliberately not wake up!"
After his wife's death in 2017, Gui Junmin sent her into a liquid nitrogen tank at minus 196 °C, becoming the first person in China to undergo human cryonics.
Gui Junmin fantasizes every day that his wife Zhan Wenlian can wake up, but he doesn't know if his wife really wakes up after being frozen for 30 years, how will his 53-year-old face her, and whether he is still alive?
There is no precedent for the success of cryonics technology so far, and in the past few years waiting for his wife to wake up, Gui Junmin has entered a new relationship with his dedication to his wife.
The "Hope" of Receiving Freezing
In 2016, Zhan Wenlian's lung cancer had metastasized to the brain, because there was too much fluid accumulation, which had compressed the head and deformed, in order to make the operation go smoothly, the hospital prepared for more than 20 days before finally carrying out the operation.
The operation was extremely difficult, and after more than 6 hours of rescue, Zhan Wenlian was safely pushed out of the rescue room and sent to the intensive care unit.
The vast majority of cancers are incurable, and rescue can only allow Zhan Wenlian's life to be forcibly extended for some time, if there is no medicine to continue her life, Zhan Wenlian may have passed away.
In order to prevent his wife from being tortured in the last time, Gui Junmin decided to send his wife to the dying ward and accompany her through the last days.
may be afraid that her parents will worry, when facing her parents, Zhan Wenlian always supports her weak body and pretends to be fine, although she is smiling, but these smiles deeply pierce Gui Junmin's heart.
He knew that his wife loved beauty and cared about what others thought of him, so in the last few days, he refused everyone's requests to come and see him on his wife's behalf.
As his body became weaker and weaker, Gui Junmin knew that his wife's time was short, and sometimes just a glance, he knew what his wife was thinking, which was the tacit understanding they had cultivated in their decades of marriage.
Once by accident, Gui Junmin saw the deeds of cryonics in the doctor's office, and to his surprise, the doctor also suggested cryonics technology to him about his wife's situation.
Although I don't know if his wife can really wake up after 30 years of freezing, at least this can bring some hope to Gui Junmin, but he needs to ask his wife's opinion.
In the last period of his wife's life, he didn't have the strength to speak, not even the strength to open his eyes, but he knew that his wife could hear everything.
Sitting in front of the hospital bed, Gui Junmin said to his wife in a very flat tone: "Your illness may be a little serious this time, I have found a place for you, after you wake up from sleep, the cancer may be cured, and we will be able to meet when you wake up."
After saying that, his wife didn't react, Gui Junmin said: "If you want to try, grab my hand", looking at his wife who didn't respond for a long time, Gui Junmin was going to give up, but in a thought, his wife's hand gently touched his hand.
Gui Junmin held his wife's hand and said for a while: "Then when the time comes, you can't deliberately pretend not to wake up", not long after, his wife died, and Gui Junmin sent him to the frozen instrument.
Although Zhan Wenlian was frozen after her death, customs such as memorial services were still followed, and almost no one except her family knew that Zhan Wenlian's tomb was just a clothed mound.
Remember what I look like
Gui Junmin and his wife Zhan Wenlian are classmates in junior high school, and although they attend the same school, their family conditions are completely different.
Gui Junmin is a native of Henan, Zhan Wenlian is a native of Shandong, and their parents became friends during the aid to Xinjiang, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the two of them are childhood sweethearts.
When she was a child, Zhan Wenlian didn't look like a little girl at all in the eyes of Gui Junmin, because many little boys were not as "wild" as her, so naturally they wouldn't think that she would become their future wife.
In the end, she only went to a vocational school, and returned to her hometown without even getting a graduation certificate, but Gui Junmin was admitted to a university in Shanghai, and the two "parted ways" since then.
Although they were far away in the two cities, the two of them had been in contact until they learned that Zhan Wenlian's parents died in a car accident, Gui Junmin took a train to Shandong overnight and came to Zhan Wenlian's side.
The relationship between the two has long since changed from an ignorant friendship to love, but they didn't notice each other, and after graduating from college, the two got married and became husband and wife.
After marriage, the two are still sweet, Gui Junmin let his wife everywhere, and Zhan Wenlian also accompanied him through the most difficult period and had his own small family.
Originally, everything was developing in a good direction, but Zhan Wenlian was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer, in order not to worry his wife, he lied that it was only the early stage, and it was found relatively early and could be cured through treatment.
But as her condition continued to worsen, Zhan Wenlian finally knew about her physical condition, and she did not complain that her husband was hiding herself, but hoped that after her death, her husband would be able to remember her most beautiful appearance.
With the hope in their hearts, the husband and wife hoped for a miracle, and still insisted on chemotherapy regularly, and the once beautiful wife, Gui Junmin, watched her hair fall out a lot.
Even though she is seriously ill, the wife is still thinking about her husband and children everywhere, and has never thought too much about herself, maybe she just wants to do more for her family in the last time.
In December 2016, Zhan Wenlian's condition worsened, and she was unable to move in the hospital bed, and only half a year later, cancer took Zhan Wenlian's life.
30 years of waiting
After Zhan Wenlian was frozen, Gui Junmin's longing for his wife increased from night to night, and time did not erase the pain in his heart.
Many people around him didn't understand him, and even his son quarreled with him because of his mother's funeral and tombstone, etc., and his mutual friend and his wife have never had contact with him since.
He knew that many people had hatred for themselves in their hearts, but this was Gui Junmin's wife, and the most painful was actually himself, so on his wife's tombstone, he also engraved his name.
During the time when his wife had just died, Gui Junmin couldn't sleep all night, but whenever he didn't go to work, colleagues and leaders would rush to his house and slam the door, for fear that he wouldn't be able to open it.
His wife is going to be frozen for 30 years, and Gui Junmin doesn't know how he should spend these long 30 years, which is like a "resurrection period" that can never be fulfilled.
At his wife's 100-day festival, Gui Junmin played a song "I Only Care About You" in front of his wife's clothed grave, and this song was often played on a loop by her during his wife's lifetime.
Cryonics technology has been controversial, and until 2016, more than 300 people worldwide have participated in cryonics, and there is no precedent for a successful resurrection.
Gui Junmin naturally knows these cruel truths, but he is still willing to believe it, because he expects his wife to come back to life, all he can do is hand his wife over to the researchers, as for whether there will be a technological breakthrough in the future to resurrect his wife, this is not something he cares about.
Even if his wife really can't be resurrected after 30 years, at least in the past few decades, freezing technology has brought hope to Gui's life.
If his wife doesn't wake up after 30 years, he is left with two choices, one is to continue to choose freezing, but by that time, Gui Junmin is already in his 80s and can't wait for the next 30 years.
At that time, he can only make a second choice, cremating his wife and burying her, but this is something that needs to be considered decades later, as Gui Junmin's health slowly deteriorates, someone suggests that he find a new wife.
Through other people's introductions, Gui Junmin did start contact with a new woman, but this does not mean that he has completely forgotten his wife who is still frozen.
In his heart, Zhan Wenlian is the dead knot in his heart that can never be let go, even if he gets married, Gui Junmin has a prerequisite, that is, the other party must accept his thoughts about his ex-wife.
Cryonics technology has always been controversial, and the deeds of Gui Junmin and Zhan Wenlian have also caused controversy among many people, but in Gui's view, these doubts arise because the technology has not been widely developed.
The choices he made, first, did not break the law, second, did not harm anyone's interests, and could bring hope to his life, although the probability of his wife's resurrection is equal to zero, but it is better than having no hope at all.